This project’s aim is to explore Norway’s Halden Prison and look at whether or not its ethos of rehabilitation is a success in being the core function of prisons. The three primary texts that I will be using are Michel Foucault’s (2020) Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, John Rawls’ Theory of Justice and Thomas Hobbes’ Social Contract Theory, in his Leviathon. I begin by looking at the historical shift of punishment as retribution (punishment of the body) towards punishment as rehabilitation (the reforming of the soul) (Foucault, 2020, p.7). From here, I move onto the two chapters that consist of the bulk of the project, the first focusing on rehabilitation and discussing the tension between whether it benefits the society or the individual. In the second chapter, I look at Foucault and Davis, who are problematising the idea that people are made into becoming a criminal—their problem is that often, ‘criminals’ are not actually ‘criminals’ and often do not need to be rehabilitated or corrected.
Category: Abstracts
Due to the recent surge of both social media and overall decline of mental health this project title was chosen, and it seeks to discover a correlation between the two. Social medias rapid growth will be showcased to show its embryonic state, showing its lack of reliability. Once the link is discovered studies supporting the direct link will be showcased as well as Simon Sinek’s motivational talks about raising a generation on dopamine devices, which subsequently forms addiction and destruction of relationships. The ability to maintain healthy relationships is a key aspect in sustaining a good mental health. The philosophical investigation will then be carried out to come to the bottom of the issue, to uncover the deeper problems of SM in relation to the human psyche. Baudrillard’s concept of a ‘hyperreality’ (real without origin of reality) and Borgmann’s ‘virtual fog’ (seeping into human connection) will be explored. Borgmann, Baudrillard and Sinek harmoniously highlight that real life and real humans are complicated enough without adding this hyperreal virtual fog that further scrambles our brains- amplified into a kind of tortuous labyrinth which produces feelings of loneliness and deteriorates our mental states the more we attempt to make sense of it and the further we travel this untrodden idle path. Sartre ties it all together at the end with his ‘existence proceeds essence’, his fight for the potential of locating an authentic self. This potentiality is, arguably, being cut off by this hyperreal virtual fog. Inauthentic human existence produces melancholy. Reclaiming this, is possible as long as the prevalent overuse of social media is recognised as something inherently negative and reduced. Essentially this philosophical investigation concludes that the prevalent overuse of social media negatively impacts overall mental health.
My project aimed to investigate whether the theories of education in philosophy could still be found in our current education system. I chose to specifically look at the subject of Religious Studies at GCSE level as I believed it had the closest link philosophy. I also wanted to incorporate my beliefs that the current education system needs to become just as focused on making moral human beings as it is intellectual ones. I sourced my information from books, real lessons from real teachers and some articles.
Aristotle believes:
– Education should help to create good citizens.
– Education should be the bridge between family life into society.
– Virtue is the highest form of knowledge and relies on drama to be taught.
John Dewey believes:
– Education should enable us to continue to grow for the rest of our lives/there is no end to our education.
– Best way to learn is through doing/being in the lesson.
– Should adapt the way we teach to each individual child’s experiences.
Concept: Memory
Philosophical Thinkers: Locke and Freud
Aims:
1. To highlight the malleability of memory
2. Argue the dangers of using memory as evidence within law- e.i. eye witness testimonies without empirical proof.
3. Analyse true case studies that indicate the ruining of people’s lives due to memory and the manipulation of it.
This project will examine the territory of social credit system and its philosophical implications. The main aim of this project is to look at influence of Philosophy of Confucianism had on the creation of the social credit system. China promoted the social credit system by usage of Confucianism notion of the virtue ‘trustworthiness’. However, this project aims to show that the social credit system only uses one aspect of the philosophy Confucianism while leaving out a core notion of ‘self-cultivation’. The comparison of between the social credit systema and Confucianism will show the implication such system on moral agents. this will show how the social credit system leave out the internal dimension of individual life how it and only focuses on the external dimensions. Thereafter, Foucault concept if disciplinary power will be used illustrate how the social credit system is perfect example of presence of disciplinary power in modern times. This project will show how the social credit system is an artificial model of the Jeremy Bentham’s’ Panopticon prison.
The human species faces three key threats that could lead to our extinction: virus threats, nuclear warfare and overpopulation. In order to secure the future of our species, there is a question as to whether we leave earth and colonise another planet. This essay examines that question with a central focus on Kant’s theory of duty and Kierkegaard’s idea that we must act on the strength of the absurd. It also uses value theory and Kierkegaard’s “teleological suspension of the ethical” to show that we can permissibly leave earth’s nature behind us. The argument that will be proposed throughout this essay is that, as a species, we have a moral obligation to leave our planet.
Abstract:
Capitalism represses the emancipatory force of a work of art regarding both its production and how it is viewed. In transforming artists and artworks into commodities, the authority of artist and work of art are lost. The commercial function of capitalism brings art into the culture industry, in which art became a mere object for exchange.
War has very distinct and polarising effects on people and does not have to look far to gauge a common consensus on how negatively it can be viewed, because of its destructive, chaotic, and immoral nature. Very few people have been prepared to argue that war is morally desirable, so the question central to this investigation will query whether war can be seen viewed as something beyond purely immoral, and beyond the initial preconceptions, so that we might perhaps view it in a way that enlightens us, and is productive to us. The investigation is split into 4 sections.
– ‘War should obviously be morally wrong.’
Why do we think war is wrong? Are our assumptions based on dogmatic tendencies?
– ‘Is Killing wrong, and should it be wrong within warfare?’
Using Immanuel Kant’s universalising imperative, I will suggest it is wrong to kill, however, I will engage with an understanding of self- defence in war, arguing that scenarios such as war create a problem for these initial assumptions.
– ‘Why do we go to war?’
What reasons can we provide for going to war? Can we justify it?
I aim to introduce Hegel’s historicism, exploring the ‘purifying’ ontogenetic capacities of war (war might be required to achieve peace and stability in the first place), and Machiavelli’s pluralism, to provide a different interpretation that a leader who is governing and conducting warfare should not consider ethics at all.
– ‘The Nuclear Age: Do we need to reconsider the ethics of war?’
Informally referred to in my investigation as “How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb”, I will bring everything together with consideration to growing temporary warfare to revaluate our understanding of morality; technology and the advent of possible nuclear destruction change ethics?
Aim: The aim of my project is to address why racism is still prevalent within society today. I will do this by interpreting philosophical approaches towards racism as well as addressing the recent event of George Floyd. Towards the end of my project, I will explore key actions that we are currently doing and can take as a society to help diminish racism.
Key philosophical thinkers: Frantz Fanon, Lewis Gordon, Angela Y.Davis
Methodology: Historical approach, axiological approach, interpretive approach
This essay explores and deconstructs the inner psyche of Anthony Soprano, the protagonist of the TV show ‘The Sopranos’ (1999-2007). This essay puts an explicit focus on the work of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan and their work on subjectivity and the formation of selfhood. The broader aim of this essay is to better understand how a personality is formed, and the ways in which our experiences – even the ones forgotten over time – have a permanent effect on our self-esteem, our behaviour and our response to certain situations. Tony Soprano was chosen for analysis because of the extreme dichotomy between the side of him that wants to be good and the side of him that is demonstrably bad. This essay also discusses whether or not Tony’s inner conflict can be resolved, coming to the conclusion that this is impossible for him. This essay also seeks to avoid an ethical discussion and look objectively at character-forming from a purely psychoanalytic perspective to avoid a discussion of moral relativism, instead hoping to understand the notion of morality as being formed through experience.
For my project I am going to be conducting a meta-analysis in order to answer a question very close to my heart, of whether Transcendental and Existential Phenomenology should be utilised more in Children and Adolescent Psychotherapy, a career I plan to train towards post-university. Through the application of Husserl and Heidegger’s phenomenology to psychotherapy, I will be challenging whether or not children and adolescents have the capability to identify a self-responsibility while being wholly dependent on their families, or to consciously comprehend transcendentalism enough to help them cope with mental struggles.
A treatise on how to ethically interact with alien life, with a focus on intelligent alien life.
This investigation looks into the ethics surrounding Nuclear Armament and the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction.
I shall be focusing on the Cold War and more specifically, the Cuban Missile crisis of 1962. I shall be analysing the potential ethical decisions made by President Kennedy with regards to Nuclear armament against the Soviets
I shall draw on the normative ethical approached of Kant as well as classical utilitarianism
I shall also draw strongly on the work of Peter Singer and Bertrand Russell
I shall conclude that The insufficient buffer of mutually assured destruction cannot shroud the egotistical, proud political aims of the world leaders at the time of the Cuban Missile crisis as adversaries of indisputably immoral nuclear programmes.
The continued belief in the reality of ghosts despite their unscientific nature can be reasoned down to a person’s social class.
Using Foucault’s philosophy we can use types knowledges to see the power structures within society and how they control us. Those who are unhappy within society such as the working classes are in position to critique society and thus see these structures.
By believing in the paranormal, one is making a choice to accept a knowledge outside of the ones deemed acceptable by society and thus unmasking the structure of what is and is not acceptable.
Wonderland is often used as a synonym for nonsense, but is there something more complex and logical functioning beneath the surface? Lewis Carroll’s fiction novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland presents the most remarkable synergy of sense and nonsense; logic and fallacies. With Deleuze’s Logic of Sense being utilised to illuminate the key fields of logic in the novel, appropriate fields of geometry and algebra will be utilised under the scope of mathematics to elevate an establishment of logic.
A conservative mathematician, Carroll disputed the pivotal change that was being introduced in the 19th century. With preceding mathematics emphasising logical Euclidean methods, the 1800’s saw mathematical theories introduce more abstract principles which extended mathematics beyond the isolation of arithmetic and numbers. Deeming this absurd, Carroll thus utilised the nonsense fiction in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to subtly mock the contemporary mathematical climate.
Having always possessed an interest in how fiction literature can re-orientate the mechanics of our perceived reality, highlighting the logic in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland will enable a platform to project my passion for mathematics in a qualitatively fiction context. By illuminating the masked logic and mathematics throughout the novel, this project will ultimately aim to convey how this nonsense fiction literature often anchors itself in a sound and consistent logic.
What are the implications of new global communication networks in sports journalism, and what is their impact on identity within the modern world?
William Roberts-19019345
I aim to discuss the idea of globalisation and new global trends influencing the way we live our lives, with a specific focus on how it influences how we identify ourselves. Using the example of sports and sports journalism, I query whether new global trends will have an impact on the ways in which we identify ourselves
What is journalism when seen in a global context?
I suggest we should see journalism as a social contract exchange. Within a global context I would argue that we become dependent on global networks which influence the social contract mechanism of sports journalism itself.
The link to identity and authentic identity
In this section I dissect identity from the view of Anthony Giddens and Alistair Macintyre, and even further, asking what constitutes an authentic identity.
The Communitarian vs Liberal debate
Elaborating on Giddens and Macintyre, and through the lens of sports journalism, I outline two primary positions in which one can identify themselves. Using Jean Luc Nancy and his ideas that the community is immensely important to the formation of the individual, I compare him to John Rawls and argue individual agency might be important towards forming an individual identity.
Citizenship
I finish the discussion by dissecting new global technologies and identity, suggesting that they impact the way we live as a political subject (We should be seen as more global)
• The objective of my project is to discuss how policing by consent operates in a democratic society and the consequences to individuals and societies when the boundaries of policing by consent are transcended, particularly when it is believed that excessive and disproportionate force is used.
• The aim of my project is to describe the mechanisms by which policing by consent can be achieved, with the absence of transgression and force, and to also demonstrate the consequences for individuals and societies when this ethos is not embedded in policing practice.
• In order to do this, I am the applying the philosophical concepts of Bourdieu’s study of ‘symbolic power’, Hobbes ‘social contract theory’ and Bauman’s notion of ‘liquid modernity’. This is an important subject because the use of force by legitimate authority in a fair and proportionate manner to uphold laws continues to be relevant and a contentious issue in modern day society.
• Hobbes ‘social contract theory’ describes how we need laws to govern human behaviour and we need state force to ensure compliance with these laws. Hobbes believes man has a desire for security and order to ensure self-preservation with the end goal of avoiding misery and pain, therefore man enters into a social contract where individual rights and liberties are surrendered in exchange for security and peace. This can be applied to the concept of ‘policing by consent’ as it describes how individuals willingly engage in lawful behaviour in order to maintain security and order.
• Bourdieu’s notion of ‘symbolic power’ demonstrates that symbolism in the police is important in generating consent with symbols, such as uniforms, as they reinforce their position of authority in society. The symbolic power of the police evokes feelings of trust and the belief that they have just cause and legitimate authority for upholding the law. The symbolic power the police have can be utilised to generate consent from the public.
• At times the police have to reasonably use a legitimate amount of force to maintain order, however a consequence of this is the risk of the abuse of this force. Therefore, using Bauman’s notion of ‘liquid modernity’ it can be demonstrated that the police’s reputation is volatile, and the police are constantly on trial by the public. The transgression of boundaries of policing by consent can be extremely detrimental to public attitudes on the police.
The intention of this project is to shed light on the experiences of a second-generation immigrant. It questions terminology like ‘the self’, and uses empirical research to explain the subconscious experiences which contributed to the confusion and frustration of constantly feeling displaced. In search of answers to resolve this, this project turns to philosophy.
Main texts referred to:
John Rawls and Liberalism: A Theory of Justice.
Michael Sandel and Communitarianism: Liberalism and the Limits of Justice.
Zygmunt Bauman and Fluid Identities: Identity: Conversations With Benedetto Vecchi.
“If you recall that only a few decades ago ‘identity’ was nowhere near the centre of our thoughts, remaining but an object of philosophical meditation. Today, though, ‘identity’ is the loudest talk in the town’” 16-17. Zygmunt Bauman, Identity.
This project questions whether the ‘self’ should be seen as completely autonomous, or whether ‘identity’ is formed by interpersonal relationships and one’s environment. Or, are these theories outdated? Is a more current and less restrictive theory required?
o In this project I will be exploring the way in which people use flags today and whether the reason is down to their identity and narrative.
o I will be using the two main examples of: Flags being used to fulfil a political agenda, and flags being used at a football match.
o The philosophers I will use to form an idea around identity and narrative are Bauman, Lyotard and Fisher.
o These themes and examples are important to research as I feel they are very relevant in today’s news and surround stories such as Brexit and the Coronavirus pandemic.
o I will conclude that identity and narrative are extremely important when considering why people use flags, but that the reason they use the flag does not necessarily conform to a general stereotype.
Animal rights are commonly understood as the rights of non-human animals to live freely from human interference and exploitation. These rights are, however, frequently violated by industries which use non-human animals to create products such as food, clothing, and cosmetics – regardless of the suffering caused to the individuals involved.
It is the purpose of my project to explore the human being’s inability to sympathise with this suffering, arguing that this inability has originated in Christian doctrine and philosophy, and can only be overcome after the death of God.
This project draws upon work from a variety of thinkers – including David Hume, Friedrich Nietzsche, Charles Darwin, Lawrence J. Hatab, Peter Singer and Gary Steiner – to investigate the role of sympathy in the creation of moral values and the Christian narrative of human dominion.
Such discussion entails a revaluation of both our moral values and the value we place on our species, concluding that the advent of nihilism in the West creates an opportunity to recognise our shared kinship with all sentient creatures, and therefore our need to sympathise with them.